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Abstract: The subject of this paper is an analysis of Quality management (QM) in food businesses and customers' perception of quality - customer satisfaction. The main objective of the research is to determine the influence of quality on business performance and competitiveness. The article's objective is to compare the level of QM by businesses in food industry and level of their customers' satisfaction and conclude the impact on competitiveness. The quality is perceived here as a product's ability to satisfy a customer's needs and requirements. The research is divided into three parts. In the first part, food businesses are contacted and their QM performance is investigated based on selected data from the financial statements; then a questionnaire is used to obtain businesses' subjective view of their QM and the quality of their products. The last part, which is subject of this paper, is a comparison of data and results obtained. This paper answers the following particular research questions: Viewed from the producer's perspective, can quality be considered a competiveness factor increasing performance of food businesses? How can customers' satisfaction with product quality influence business performance? The research is based on primary data obtained by a structured questionnaire and secondary data acquired from financial statements, which were used to measure business performance and competitiveness. The quantitative analysis was fed with actual data from a five-year period 2007-2011. Answers collected were processed with statistical methods of univariate and bivariate analyses. In all areas of research, the statistical significance of factor's differences is tested here, using standard statistical tests. They are based mainly on the classical t-test, which will be complemented by the χ-square test of independence whenever suitable. In the article the main factors concerning quality are summarized - influence of QM level, significance of quality certificates and influence of customers' requirements and wishes. The results of a research performed in Czech Republic should provide a complex analysis of quality's influence on food businesses' performance and help businesses worldwide to improve their competitiveness via effective QM and understanding of customers' needs.
Keywords: QM, business competitiveness, performance, customer satisfaction
1. Introduction
The article analyses the mutual relationships between quality, customer satisfaction, performance and competitiveness of a company. The article is based on the results of research...